Woman badly hurt after mistaking dynamite for candle during power outage

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — Connecticut police said a woman was seriously injured after she mistook a quarter-stick of dynamite for a candle, and the explosive blew up in her hand.

Police said that after the family at 1248 Lindley Street lost power during a thunderstorm Thursday night, they tried going to Home Depot for emergency lights. Home Depot was closed.

The family then remembered that when they bought the house two years prior, there were a couple of what they thought were candles in the basement, left by the previous owners of the home, according to WTIC.

The 30-year-old mother of two tried to light what she thought was the candle, setting off the dynamite. She suffered extreme injuries to one of her hands, including the potential loss of more than one of her fingers.

Police said while fireworks and dynamite are against the law in the state of Connecticut, no charges will be pressed because it seemed that the current homeowners had no idea explosives were in their house.

Police are calling this a ‘tragic accident’, and remind people if you find something in your house that looks explosive, and you don’t know what it is, to contact your local fire department.

The second lesson police emphasized is to remember to always have backup, auxiliary lighting in case you lose power in your home. Police said it’s preferable the lighting be battery operated, glow stick, or hand crank-powered, to avoid the risk of fire damage.